The present invention relates to nickel base (Ni-base) super alloys and methods of making the same. More particularly, this invention relates to intermediate alloys and texture-free Ni-base super alloys having a particular composition, and methods of making the same.
Ni-base super alloys are very useful set of alloys that can be designed to be used with substantial creep and oxidation resistances at high temperatures, often in excess of 0.7 of their absolute melting temperatures. One form of high-temperature nickel base alloy of particular interest is a cast form, designed for desired creep and environmental properties, such as for example, oxidation resistance and hot corrosion resistance. One of the nickel base composition that is widely used, especially in hot gas path components, is the Rene 80™ material trademarked by General Electric Company.
Additive manufacturing is a suite of emerging technologies that fabricate three-dimensional objects directly from digital models through an additive process, typically by depositing layer upon layer and joining them in place. Unlike traditional manufacturing processes involving subtraction (e.g., cutting and shearing) and forming (e.g., stamping, bending, and molding), additive manufacturing joins materials together to build products.
Certain components, such as for example, turbine engine hot gas path components made by nickel base super alloys can benefit from the design flexibility of additive manufacturing techniques. However, additive manufacturing methods may create certain challenges in the manufacturability of the nickel base super alloys and further in forming the nickel base super alloys having properties similar to the nickel base super alloys that are manufactured by the traditional casting method. Therefore, it is desirable to design a nickel base super alloy that can be manufactured using the additive manufacturing methods and have properties that are similar to their cast counterparts.